Hashers and Mashers Part 2 - OPEN (Page 15)

Nice, what kind did you get?

I had a wishy/washy run this morning (treadmill) and then a mediocre bike ride (trainer of course). I guess I had to have a blah day once in a while. Hopefully, swimming tomorrow will be more satisfying.

I got a call from my MD's office he wants to discuss the results of my blood test last week. Rats!! Looks like I'll be back on the cardboard and cabbage diet - Yuck!

Well it's just the rack system it's called Inno it's Japanese apparently! I could have paid more for Thule but the guy at the rack store said this will work just as well.

What's wrong with your bloods? Maybe that's what is giving you 'blah' days

I think I'm starting to come around this cold, only managed a 3 mile run this morning but already feeling better. Fingers crossed the weather will be good and I can get out on the bike on sunday.

Feeling great in chilly Alberta!

Can't wait for spring!

little swim this morning did some drills kick and pull! 650 m total.

Really happy with my training numbers seeings how I started logging in the 6th and pre new year I was in solid couch potatoe mode!

That is awesome about your training numbers!

Hi Tay, I get my blood tested every 3 months to see how high my blood glucose is. Some people call it diabetes but I prefer to think of it as "glucose-aly challenged". It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might be so I have to try some different things to get my blood glucose back under control and so far I don't have to eat a restrictive cardboard and cabbage diet.

It is normal while training to have "off" days that just aren't as good as you would have expected but in yesterday's blah day I think you may be right that my blood was in part to blame. I just seemed to have been not functioning properly this last week.

Hope you're feeling better and you get to ride outside on Sunday.

Kyle - I have a new coach for swimming with my group and she makes us do a set warm-up each swim and then she puts us through a series of swim sets. The warm-up goes like this:

100m Swim (usually freestyle)
100m Kick (on your back or stomach - she prefers we do a flutter kick so I do a breaststroke variation where I flutter kick on my stomach but I use my arms in a breaststroke pull to raise myself up to take a breath) against my will it does seem to be improving my kick.
100m IM (IM is a length each of butterfly, freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke). I'm not a rebel, but I don't like the butterfly or backstroke so I usually do this 100m as 1 length swim/1 length breaststroke then repeat.
100m Drill (our coach assigns us a specific drill to work on. I usually do a catch-up drill and you should at least try it yourself)
100m Swim (again freestyle)
Take 15secs rest after each 100m and eventually you'll cut that to 10secs.

That's a 500m warm-up and then you can swim your normal 650m. You may have to build up to it but if you can swim 650m you can swim 1150m, eh. If you try it let us know how you make out.

Catch-up Drill - Swimming freestyle you hold both hands out ahead of you in the water and keep one hand out in front of you as your opposite arm takes a stroke then touches your "out front" hand and then that arm takes a stroke and then repeat. Keep one hand out front at all times. Once you're comfortable with the stroke you also need to add in a good roll from side to side with the stroke. If this is unclear ask someone at your pool to show you.

George

I didnt know you have T2 diabetic , with the Tri-season last year your numbers should be getting closer to normal. If its ok to know whats your current A1C??

I am a recovering T2 Diabetes , when i was a Clyde then 230# my A1C was 7.5 and the doctor placed me on 2000 mg Glucophage(1000@am and pm) , when i lost 45# my doctor took me off the meds my A1C last i check was 6.3 still high but im trying to get it to normal.

Hopefully this season my A1C would drop to 6.0 or even less.

with 3 HIMS you got planned this year you should knock out those Calories.





Edited by strykergt 2014-01-31 10:05 PM

Oh yeah! That sounds like a good swim work out! I am breaststroke aly challenged!

I have just been burnt out from
my km swim last weekish! So been taking it easier but hey at least I am getting in the pool!

I am going to join that masters group when I get back the middle of now where!

So I just ran 8 km and I my 5 k split to my complete surprise was 25:45! Shocking!

So here is my official January total!

swim 4500m 2.5 hrs
bike 295 km 10 hrs
run 25.66 km 3 hrs
strength 2:50 hr
yoga 3 hrs
I know we are not counting the the strength or yoga but I am feeling great

Down 37.5 pounds since Nov.4th! Pretty stoked!

Wow thats great Greg keep up the good work!

Keep up the good training man. Especially the yoga, I love to do yoga for recovery.

Woohoo! That is awesome!

Congrats on the loss.... hope to follow you down! Just finished a 2000yd swim... and trying to motivate for a 5k run...

Wow Greg! That's really great work.

My tri club decided to put together a C group for the bike ride, I got all excited about it until I found out the average speed will be between 15 and 16.5mph... on a hilly route... not quite there yet... I guess im going out with the bike club for a while.

Made it through a very slow... but what the heck... 3.2 mi run after the swim today! Tomorrow a longer run with my wife before football festivities....
So what is the general opinion of heart rate monitoring? I had a conversation with a friend that has run a bunch of races, including the Kona Iron Man and he says he does almost all his training with the monitor on and at very low rates... like for my age 45; would be around 141bpm..... it seems too low for me? Also he recommended the Suunto product? Thanks all!

Edited by mikesaracino 2014-02-01 3:22 PM

I go through phases of wearing it and not wearing it. To find out your heart rate zones you do a lactate threshold test which is run for 10 minutes as a warm up then go all out for 20 minutes. It hurts. Your average heart rate for the 20 minutes is your LT. Then in your training log you go to heart rate zones and plug the number in and it calculates your range.

What range you train in really depends on the workout and what your training for. Generally speaking, the longer the distance the lower the heart rate. I'll see if I can find a good article or two on heart rate training tonight.

BTW, your LT on the bike is usually lower than for running by about 10 beats.

As far as product, I've used Timex Ironman watch and hr monitor and liked it. I currently use Garmin. Suunto is a well known brand as is Polar. I like to read reviews of products on line specially blogs before I buy them.

Carlo - I was concerned my MD was going to say my A1C was 10 but it wasn't quite that bad - it was 8.5 and as you say I want it to be under 7. Unfortunately, my working out has no beneficial effect for me at all as far as the A1C goes. I'd love to have a 6.3 like yours. I hope you make your goal of a sub 6 A1C.

I find it really frustrating when I hear of some person who walks a half hour 3X/week (and calls it, "working out") and their diabetes goes away. I work out pretty intensely and nothing changes. I also suspect that all the carbs I consume while working out maybe has a bearing on it. I'm considering going to see a nutritionist to see what she recommends.

Kyle - It is a good idea to have a backup stroke to use in case something goes wrong in your race (like losing your goggles) so try to get comfortable with the breaststroke and maybe with floating on your back as well.

I mentioned the warm-up only because I've found it easy and fun but if you're not ready to do it don't do it. I think joining the Master's group would be great for you.

Greg - Excellent work! Keep it up. Try measuring your waist size and then as you lose more weight see how much your waist shrinks (I've lost 5.5inches so far but very little weight loss).

Tay - The best way for you to get faster would be to ride with the C group. Or start out with them and hang on as long as possible then finish on your own. If your group's "C" group rides that fast I'd hate to try and keep up with the A & B groups. I had a quick look at your training log and your swim numbers look pretty impressive.

MikeS - I sometimes run with a HRM but I don't use it to modify my running. I've noticed that while I am running and cycling slightly faster my HR doesn't seem to come up as high as it did last year. I hope its a good sign of improving my fitness.



I had a good bike ride today. Mostly Zn2/3 and some low cadence spinning. Felt pretty good when we finished.


Edited by wenceslasz 2014-02-01 8:47 PM

George

The above is really very revealing to me. It is making me nervous i am going to be checked next month for physical .Maybe its the weight loss that significantly lowered my A1C. I have been bouncing 185-190# i used to be able to maintain 180#. I believe what you said so even though i am working out hard and my weight is not changing my A1C will also not improve, but George i am sure you have a better BMI so i agree with you a nutritionist consult is a good route. I understand now George why you joined the Nutrition Mentor Group.

Good Luck man and Godbless to a better health. I believe you can bring your A1C a notch down.

Cheers Man

Oh I can float like a champ!

George, the guys in my tri club are like machines! Lol my swim is not that bad but I'm still on the slowest lane out of 4!!!! ( granted I could probably keep up with some workouts on lane 2 but still...). The A group speed is 18mph +, the B group is 16.5mph - 18mph and the C 15mph-16.5mph.
I've been riding with a cycling club and they're much slower, today on a very hilly route we averaged 13mph for the first 25 miles and the total was 12mph over 45 miles. I think I'll take your suggestion and every other week ride with the C group, even if it's just for 10-15miles and increase it from there.

Are you controlling your diabetes with tablets or just diet?

Happy Super Bowl Sunday Everyone!

My legs feel like they are falling off lol! But otherwise I feel great going to ride the trainer later today!

Off to the wilderness tomorrow!

I had a workout on my training plan that put me in the big ring for the entire workout. I had to work my way down from Big Ring/Easiest to Big Ring/Hardest for the first 27'. At that point, I had to do 10 repeats of 30" grind 30" all out, 30" stand, 30" grind in the hardest gear. What is the actual definition of "grind"? Is that just sort of a recovery that still sucks? FWIW, my little legs couldn't deal with the hardest gear on the trainer for 20' and I had to pop up to an easier gear after 5 repeats. Glad I have a few months before I race and that race will be flat!